Hayao Miyazaki's 'The Boy and the Heron' Wins Academy Award, Set for India Release

Acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, "The Boy and the Heron," has won the prestigious Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. This beautifully animated film explores thought-provoking themes and boasts incredible animation and a satisfying story. It also won Best Animated Film at the Golden Globes, Bafta Film Awards, New York Film Critics Circle Awards, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association. This marks Miyazaki's second Academy Award win, following his 2001 triumph for "Spirited Away."

The film features an all-star English voice cast, including Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson as the voice of Heron, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Willem Dafoe, Gemma Chan, Mark Hamill, Karen Fukuhara, and Luca Padovan. Director Miyazaki praised Pattinson's performance, saying, "I got to know that [Robert Pattinson] was very excited about voicing the character of Heron and he had done a lot of prep work before going to the studio for the first meeting. He was already in the character and it shows in the end result. He has made the character his own."

"The Boy and the Heron" follows the magical journey of teenager Mahito, who loses his mother and struggles with complicated relationships with his family and classmates. He meets a strange talking heron, and together they enter a mysterious tower, where a magical world opens, allowing Mahito to meet the people he loved in a completely different identity.

The film opened in Japan in July 2023 under the title "How Do You Live" and had the highest opening weekend gross for an anime feature. It marks Miyazaki's first feature film in 10 years after "The Wind Rises." The dubbed version, featuring the star-studded voice cast, opened in U.S. theaters on March 22, 2024. It also opened in mainland China on April 3 through distributor Alibaba Pictures.

"The Boy and the Heron" will be available to stream on Netflix worldwide, except in the U.S. and Japan, due to an extended worldwide catalog rights deal between distributors Goodfellas and GKIDS and Japanese studio Studio Ghibli. In the U.S., the film will be available on Warner Bros. Discovery streamer Max as part of a multi-year agreement with GKIDS to extend the exclusive U.S. film streaming rights for Studio Ghibli. Elizabeth Bannan Atcheson, VP of content acquisitions at Warner Bros. Discovery, said, "Our subscribers are always looking for unique stories, and we are happy to continue to offer these award-winning, critically acclaimed films and to add 'The Boy and the Heron' to our deep and rich Max content offering."

The film will be re-released in theaters in North America and Japan prior to its streaming debut on Max. It will be available on Netflix along with 22 other Studio Ghibli films, including "Spirited Away", "Kiki's Delivery Service", and "My Neighbor Totoro", marking the first time Studio Ghibli films will be available to stream anywhere in the world. "The Boy and the Heron" is set to release in cinemas across India on May 10, 2024, by Warner Bros. Pictures, in both Japanese with English subtitles and English dubbed versions.

Key Takeaways

• Hayao Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" wins Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
• Film features all-star English voice cast, including Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale, and more.
• Movie follows teenager Mahito's magical journey with a talking heron.
• Film to stream on Netflix worldwide (except US and Japan) and Warner Bros. Discovery's Max in the US.
• Re-release in theaters in North America and Japan before streaming debut.